Afghan afghani: useful information

The Afghans use afghani as their currency. The first afghani was introduced in 1925 and remained in circulation until the years 2003 when a new one was released. The Afghanistan economy has experienced many difficulties over the years of conflict and internal wars. Consequently, the afghan currency has continually fluctuated throughout those years. Market forces have been the primary determinant of the foreign exchange rate at the country except during the war periods. During these war instances, the Afghan Central Bank had been forced to fix an official exchange rate to avoid seasonal fluctuations.

Furthermore, political parties, warlords, forgers and foreign powers used to make their own Afghani banknotes without honoring serial numbers or standardization before the invasion of the country by the US. This unrestrained printing made the afghani to trade at 43,000 AFA per USD in 2002 since there was a lot of money circulating. As a result, the government decided to issue a new afghani, which was valued at 43 afghanis per U.S. dollar. The recent development, infrastructure growth and end of a long war have contributed to a much stronger and stable economy and ultimately increase in the value of the afghani compared to their neighboring countries.

For people considering visiting Afghanistan, it is helpful to know that the government has placed travel warnings to many locations in the country. Travelers are highly warned not to visit most areas in the southern and eastern border such as the Balkh, Farah, Kandahar, and Kabul.

However, for those who have to visit the country, they should carry sufficient home currency because credit cards are not accepted in most places. Banks do not operate on Fridays, but there are ATMs in many areas with some of them dispensing pound and euros. However, one needs to have an International Security Assistance Force or ISAF pass to access the ATMs that are situated inside military camps. Furthermore, very few places accept traveler’s cheques, and it will also take time for the cheques to be cleared.